Apparatus for bending wire



April 16, 1968 A. PATTERSON APPARATUS FOR BENDING WIRE 2 Sheets-SheetFiled Sept. 8, 1965 United States Patent 0 3,378,047 APPARATUS FORBENDING WIRE Arnold L. Patterson, Harmony, N.C., assignor to WesternElectric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of NewYork Filed Sept. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 485,803 8 Claims. (Cl. 140-102)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire lead advanced between an anvil pin anda sta tionary stop engages a conductive stop and completes an electricalcircuit from the conductive stop through the pin to energize a mechanismto rotate a bending element about the anvil pin. As the bending elementis rotated, the lead is bent about the anvil pin whereafter the anvilpin is retracted from engagement with the wire lead. The bending elementis further rotated to press the end of the wire lead against thatportion of the lead between the bent end and the stationary stop.

This invention relates to apparatus for bending wire and moreparticularly to apparatus for bending a secton of the wire flat againstthe unbent section.

In the assembly of coaxial connectors, machines for bending the leads ofcomponents are employed. It is necessary to bend the ends of strippedinsulated leads back upon themselves to permit subsequent insertion ofthe bent ends into coaxial connectors. One requirement for these bentleads is that they do not include a bight or loop; that is, the bentsection must be fiat against the unbent section.

An object of this invention is to provide new and improved appratus forbending a wire against itself.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for bending awire fiat against itself with no bight or loop.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus forbending a wire utilizing the presence of the wire to complete anelectrical current to initiate the operation of the apparatus.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention contemplatesa bending apparatus having a bending projection which circumferentiallybends a wire about an anvil pin for approximately 90 and then bends thewire against itself after the anvil pin is removed. Facilities areprovided to initiate operation of the apparatus upon loading the wire inthe proper position with respect to the anvil pin. The anvil pin isremoved after approximately 90 movement of the bending projection by acam surface located on a cylinder upon which the bending projection ismounted. This cam surface co-operates with a cam follower connected tothe anvil pin so that the pin is fully withdrawn from the wire as thebending projection acts to bend the wire upon itself.

These and other objects, aspects, and advantages of this invention maybe appreciated from the following detail description and from theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a wire bending apparatus embodying theprinciples of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of theapparatus shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a drive mechanism for operatingfacilities to bend a wire upon itself;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2showing a wire positioned between a bending member and a conductive stopto initiate operation of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a crosssectional view taken on line 4-4 of 3,378,047 PatentedApr. 16, 1968 FIG. 2 illustrating the construction of a support postwithin the frame of the bending apparatus;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view illustrating camming facilities for removinga first bending member to allow a second bending member to bend the wireupon itself;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 depict the operation of the bending elements during acycle of opeartion of the bending apparatus to bend a section of wireupon itself without forming a bight; and

FIG. 9 is an electrical circuit schematic for initiating and controllingthe operation of the bending apparatus.

Referring generally to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bending apparatus is shown forfolding a stripped end 13 of an insulated wire 14 back upon itself. Thebending is accomplished by positioning the stripped end 13 of insulatedwire 14 between a bending member or projection 16 and another bendingmember or anvil pin 17. The bending projection 16 extends from the topof a cylinder 18 (see FIGS. 2 and 5) mounted for rotation in an apertureformed in a housing 12 secured to a base 11. The cylinder 18 is providedwith a bore 19 and a counterbore 20 to slidably accommodate a post 21upon which the anvil pin 17 is mounted, The post 21 has a bottom portion22 which is of a rectangular configuration and sits within a slot 23formed in the housing 12 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The rectangular bottomportion 22 of the post 21 precludes rotation of the post 21 whilepermitting axial movement of the post within the counter-bore 20 of thecylinder 18. A spring 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) acts against therectangular bottom portion 22 of the post 21 to maintain the anvil pin17 extending through the bore 19 and laterally aligned with the bendingprojection 16.

Mounted on the cylinder 18 is a pinion 26 that engages a rack 27 (seeFIGS. 1 and 2). One end of this rack 27 abuts a return spring 28 and theother end is connected through a spring coupling 29 to a piston rod 31mounted in a fluid cylinder 32. The return spring 28 is selected to beconsiderably weaker than the spring contained in the spring coupling 29.When the cylinder receives fluid, the piston rod 31 and the rack 27 areadvanced to rotate the pinion 26 and, hence, the cylinder 18. Rotationof the cylinder 18 moves the bending projection 16 against the strippedend 13 of the wire 14 to bend the wire about the anvil pin 17 (see FIG.7).

The bottom of cylinder 18 is machined to provide a cam surface 33 (seeFIG. 5) that acts against a cam follower or follower pin 34 radiallyextending from the base of the post 21. Inasmuch as the post 21 ismounted for sliding movement relative to cylinder, the cam 33 iseffective, upon rotation, to present a lobed or high portion to move thefollower pin 34 and thus the post moves down against the spring 24 towithdraw the anvil pin 17. Continued movement of the bending projection16 now forces the stripped end 13 of the wire 14 against a sta tionaryconductive stop 36 (see FIGS. 1 and 8) whereupon the bight or loopformed in the wire 14 during the initial bending operation (see FIG. 7)is collapsed and the wire is doubled against itself.

Considering now the initiation of operation of the apparatus andreferring to FIGS. 3 and 9, an attendant inserts the stripped end 13 ofthe wire 14 into the bending apparatus 11 to complete an electricalcircuit between a conductive stop 37 and the anvil pin 17 or othercontacted members such as the stop 36 or the bending projection 16. Theconductive stop 37 is mounted in a notch formed between an insulatorstrip 44 and an insulator holder plate 45. The circuit completed throughthe anvil pin and the conductive stop 37 energizes a relay coil 38 froma power supply 39. Energization of relay coil 38 closes contacts 40 tocomplete a locking circuit from the power supply 39, through a normallyclosed limit switch 3 35, the locking contacts 40 and the relay coil 38.The energization of relay coil 38 also closes relay contacts 41 tocomplete a circuit from the power supply 39 to energize a solenoid 42that controls a valve (not shown) to admit fluid to the fluid cylinder32.

When fluid is admitted to the cylinder 32, the piston rod 31 is advancedto move the rack 27 against the pinion 26. The pinion 26, in turn,rotates the cylinder 18 and the bending projection 16. The bendingprojection 16 bends the stripped end 13 of the wire 14 about the anvilpin 17 (see FIG. 7). After the stripped end 13 of the wire 14 is bentapproximately 90 about the anvil pin 17, the cam surface 33 of thecylinder 18 acts against the to]- lower pin 34 to longitudinally forcethe pin 21 to move down against the spring 24 to remove the anvil pin 17from the wire 14.

The locking circuit through normally closed limit switch 35, thecontacts 40, and the relay coil 38 maintains operation of the fluidcylinder 32 after the stripped end 13 of the insulated wire 14 is bentand removed from the engagement with the conductive stop 37. Further,rotation of bending projection 19 bends the stripped and 13 of the wire14 against the stationary stop 36 whereupon the bight or loop formed inthe wire 14 during the initial bending operation is collapsed and thewire is doubled against itself (see FIG. 8).

After the completion of the bending cycle, the relatively weak returnspring 28 is compressed to act as a stop for the rack 27; however, thepiston 31 continues to advance to compress the relatively strong springin spring coupling 29 (see FIG. 1). A cam 43 on the advancing springcoupling 29 opens normally closed limit switch 35 to de-energize relaycoil 38. The de-energization of the relay coil 38 opens the contact 41to de-energize the solenoid 42 to operate the valve (not shown) tointerrupt the flow of fluid to the cylinder 32 and connect the cylinderto a fluid exhaust line. The compressed return spring 28 and compressedspring coupling 29 then restores the rack 27 and piston 31 to theoriginal position. The return movement of the spring coupling 29 removescam 43 from the limit switch 35 to permit the switch 35 to again close.The apparatus is now in condition to execute another cycle of operationupon the attendant positioning the stripped end 13 of another insulatedwire 14 between the anvil pin 17 and the conductive stop 37.

It is to be understood that the above-described apparatus andconstruction of elemental parts are simply illustrative of anapplication of the principles of the invention and many othermodifications may be made without departing from the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for bending an article,

a first bending element,

a second bending element spaced from the first bending element,

normally unoperated means including a deenergized electrical circuit forimparting relative movement between said bending elements to bend anarticle positioned therebetween,

a conductive stop; and

means responsive to the positioning of an article between both of saidbending elements and in engagement with one of said bending elements andsaid conductor stop for energizing said circuit and initiating operationof said normally unoperated means.

2. An apparatus for bending wire comprising,

a first bending element mounted for axial movement,

a second bending element spaced from and rotatably mounted forcircumferential movement about the first bending element,

normally unoperated means for rotating the second bending element,

means responsive to the positioning of a wire between both of saidbending elements and in engagement with one of said bending elements forinitiating operation of said normally unoperated means to rotate thesecond bending element,

a stop for engaging the wire while the second bending elementcircumfcrentially moves about the first bending element to bend thewire, and

means rendered effective by a predetermined movement of the secondbending element to axially move the first bending element out ofengagement with the wire whereupon the second bending member bends thewire against the stop.

3. In an apparatus for bending a Wire utilizing the presence of the wireto be bent to start the bending operation comprising,

an anvil pin,

a post upon which the anvil pin is mounted having a cam followerradially mounted near the base of the post,

a rotat'ably mounted cylinder concentric with and surrounding said posthaving a cam surface cooperating with the cam follower to move the postand anvil pin within the cylinder after a predetermined rotation of thecam surface,

a bending projection radially extending from and mounted on the top ofthe cylinder for circumferential movement about the anvil pin,

a conductive stop for engaging the wire while the bending projectionmoves about the anvil pin,

a spring longitudinally biasing the post to position the anvil pinslightly above the bending projection,

a power supply,

a relay coil connected in series with the power supply,

a second conductive stop,

a circuit including said conductive stop, said anvil pin, said powersupply, said relay coil and the wire to be bent,

a solenoid,

a pair of normally open circuit contact means responsive to theenergization of said relay coil for completing a series electricalcircuit with the power supply and the solenoid valve, and

means responsive to the energization of said solenoid for rotating thecylinder for bending the wire about the anvil pin and for moving the camsurface of the cylinder against the cam follower to force the postagainst the spring to remove the anvil pin after said predeterminedrotation whereafter further rotation of the bending projection doublesthe wire against itself.

4. In an apparatus for bending the end of an electrically conductivewire,

a first conductive bending element,

a second conductive bending element spaced from said first bendingelement for cooperating with said first bending element to bend a wirepositioned there between,

a conductive stop spaced from said bending elements and engaged by thewire positioned between said bending elements,

normally unoperated means incluuding a first spring for impartingthrough said spring relative motion to said first and second bendingelements to bend said wire,

a relay circuit for operating said relative motion imparting means,

an energizing circuit completed by said engagement of said wire withsaid conductive stop and either of one of said bending elements forenergizing said relay circuit,

a second spring weaker than said first spring for initially opposing andsubsequently limiting relative movement of said bending elementswhereupon said first spring is subsequently compressed, and

means rendered effective upon compression of said spring forinterrupting and de-energizing said relay circuit.

S. In an apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the means for impartingrelative movement to said bending elements advances the wire fromengagement with the conductive stop, and

a locking circuit operated by the energization of said relay circuit formaintaining said relay circuit energized after said wire advances fromengagement with said conductive stop.

6. An apparatus for bending wire comprising,

a first bending element mounted for axial movement,

a second bending element spaced from and mounted for circumferentialmovement about the first bending element to engage a wire positionedtherebetween,

means rendered effective by a predetermined movement of the secondbending element for axially moving the first bending element fromengagment with the wire,

a stop for engaging the wire while the second bending elementcireumferentially moves about the first bending element, and

means for rotating the second bending element to bend the wire about thefirst bending element and then axially move the first bending memberwhereupon the second bending member bends the Wire against the stop.

7. An apparatus for doubling a wire on comprising,

an anvil pin against which said wire is placed,

a post upon which the anvil pin is mounted having a cam followerradially mounted near the base of the post,

a rotatably mounted cylinder concentric with and surrounding said posthaving a cam surface cooperating with the cam follower for axiallymoving said post after 90 rotation of said cylinder,

a bending projection mounted on the top of the cylinder and offset withrespect to the axis of said cylinder,

a stop for engaging the wire while the bending projectioncircumferentially moves about the anvil pin,

a spring longitudinally biasing the post and anvil pin in lateralalignment with the bending projection, and

itself means for rotating the cylinder to bend the ire against the anvilpin and to then move the cam surface against the cam follower to forcethe post against the spring to remove the anvil pin while continuedrotation of the bending projection doubles the wire against itself.

8. An apparatus for doubling a wire against itself comprising,

a hollow cylinder having a cam surface near the base of said cylinder,

a post concentrically positioned with said hollow cylinder having aradially mounted follower pin located near the base of said post forcooperation with the cam surface of said cylinder to axially move saidpost after 90 rotation of said cylinder,

an anvil pin axially mounted on top of said post and against which saidwire is placed,

a bending projection mounted on the top of said cylinder forcircumferential movement with the cylinder about said anvil pin,

a stop for engaging the wire while the bending projectioncircumferentially moves about the anvil pin,

a spring longitudinally biasing the post and the anvil pin to positionsaid anvil pin in lateral alignment with the bending projection, and

means for rotating the cylinder to bend the wire about the anvil pin,and for moving the cam surface of the cylinder against the follower pinto force the post against the spring to remove the anvil pin from engagernent with the wire while continued rotation of the bendingprojection doubles the wire against itself.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1961 Ryder et al. l40-10411/1964 Svoboda 140-104 12/1966 Grebe et a1 724l6 4O RICHARD J. HERBST,Primary Examiner.

RONALD D. GREFE, Assistant Examiner.

